The CBI's Deadly Red Case
by Mentalgal
Summary: This is the CBI's most dangerous case. Everyone in the team is targeted, and possibly not everyone survives. I rated it T because of the violence, there are no adult themes or anything, purely the violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok this is going to be a long story, but here's chapter 1. Hope you like it! It's not very cheerful like my other stories, it's kind of dull but I wouldn't mind this happening in the mentalist. Hope you like it! Please review!**

It was a regular day at the CBI. Vanpelt was filing documents on her computer, Rigsby was looking through his top draw for a packet of chips he swore he put there, Cho was reading a thick, paperback novel and Lisbon was in her office, writing the final sentence of the team's previously closed case file. Jane was on his couch, resting, as usual, pretending to be asleep.

By the description of the actions taking place at the CBI one would think it was in fact a regular day. But the case that the team had recently closed had changed all of them… forever.

It all started on a Monday morning. Jane stepped out of his car and stretched. He had spent another sleepless night, alone with his insomnia. But as always, he didn't let his memories trouble him when he could help it, and he put his trademark smile on as he presented his ID and continued to the elevator.

"Hey Jane! Wait up!" yelled a young, enthusiastic voice from behind.

Jane knew immediately who it was.

"Hey Grace, you seem happy this morning," Jane said as he held the elevator doors open to let her step in without a sound from her light tread.

"Thank you," said the Junior Agent, suddenly less cheerful now that she'd seen how tired her colleague looked, "Um… How are you?" she asked in an attempt to break the silence of the otherwise empty elevator.

"Oh I'm extraordinarily ordinarily ordinary thanks Grace," said the consultant as he stepped out of the now open elevator doors. Grace followed him, slightly puzzled and confused as she tried to decipher how Jane had chosen to describe his feelings.

"Vanpelt, Did you hear me? I said we're up! Rancho Rosa Resort, come on let's go!" ordered their boss, Special Agent Teresa Lisbon, as Grace re-entered reality. Grace turned to see that Rigsby was on one of the phones, and therefore one could assume Lisbon had chosen him for the incredibly boring task of answering the phones instead of Grace, the usual agent recruited for the job.

"Vanpelt, you coming? I don't think boss is planning on waiting," snapped Cho in his regular expressionless monotone.

Cho let Grace into the elevator, and the three agents and consultant stood silently as they waited for the elevator to reach the ground.

Once they'd arrived at the crime scene, Lisbon gave a briefing of the case.

"Basically, this woman, Stacy Crowde, has been shot. One bullet wound, straight to the heart. Our number one suspect is Frederick Tanner; he has murdered several people from the family line, but has not yet been caught. He only murders the females in the family though. Never the males."

Jane suddenly had a flash of his wife and child in his mind, but with great mental difficulty, he managed to force the gruesome scene out of his mind and tune his thoughts in on the case.

When the team returned to a very bored looking Risby, Lisbon went straight to her office, looking through some of Tanner's previous killings. All of them females, all of them in the same family. The Crowdes. Did Tanner not see how unfair it was to kill the females who chose to enter the cursed family line? Lisbon leant back in her chair. She needed a break, a cup of coffee. Maybe Jane would… a feeling of realisation brushed through Lisbon. No wonder Jane was so quiet at Rancho Rosa. This man killed wives and children. This man, in Jane's eyes would be seen as an utter monster. This case would bring back memories that Jane must dread. Maybe she ought to let him off the case.

"Hey Lisbon," Jane said as he burst into her office without warning.

"Hey Jane. Look, I was wondering. You look really tired and, this case… it's a little…" Lisbon stopped and left a pause that seemed like hours as they both shared the thought of the case being too similar to Red John's.

"Look Lisbon, I'm fine with the case. I'm staying on."

"Jane, sit down." Lisbon said with a worried expression on her face, and seeing he wasn't going to, firmed her voice and repeated herself. "Sit down."

Jane took a seat in front of Lisbon's desk and failed to give her eye contact. He knew what she was going to talk to him about.

"Jane, you're tired. You look like you haven't slept in weeks. And that's because you haven't. Don't you think we notice when you are yawning every second of the day?" she asked, trying to catch his gaze as it remained at the floor of her office.

"I'm fine Lisbon. Really, I can work the case." Jane said, holding back a yawn.

"No Jane, you're not. We're getting worried about you. Hightower asked me to relieve you from the case.

"Lisbon I'm FINE! I am just a LITTLE tired! But I like working and I can work when I'm tired!" Jane replied, then his gaze returned to the floor as he realised he had just yelled at Lisbon. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me I just… sorry…"

"Jane. You're not healthy. You barely eat, you haven't slept for weeks and you just sit and stare for hours when your not working. This is not good Jane. Are you okay?"

Jane didn't answer for a long while. But after about 20 seconds, he met Lisbon's gaze.

"Lisbon please let me work this case. Yes, to tell you the truth, I haven't been sleeping. Taking time off wont help me sleep. Yes, I haven't been eating much, but I promise I will eat more, I just… If I can't avenge my family, at least I can avenge this one."

Lisbon didn't know what to do. She was really worried about Jane, and Hightower was trying to force her to relieve him from work. She wanted to help him, but she didn't know how.

"Okay Jane, I'll speak to Hightower. Now go."

Jane stood up, smiled a 'thank you' smile at Lisbon, and left her office.

As soon as Jane was gone, Lisbon Got up and began to make her way to Hightower's office.

As soon as Grace saw Jane leave Lisbon's office she got up. Then Lisbon opened the door and Grace rushed over to her.

"Hey boss I've got a lead. I was looking at the backgrounds of the victims of Tanner, and I found out that this man, Gregory Mill, brother of one of the victims, shares the same postal address. Whenever Tanner wants something, it is sent to this address."

"Like what?" asked Lisbon curiously.

"One week before Stacy Crowde's murder, a 48 was delivered to this address. The same type of gun that killed Stacy. One week before the killing prior to Stacy's death, the murder of Joanne Crowde, a kitchen knife, which happened to be the murder weapon, was also delivered to this address. The pattern continues through all of the deaths."

"Good job Vanpelt, you and Rigsby go and check it out," said Lisbon as she continued to head to Hightower's office.

When Grace and Rigsby arrived at the address of Mill, they knocked on the wooden door, both wearing bulletproof vests and with their guns at the ready. To their surprise, the door opened almost as soon as they'd knocked. As Rigsby lowered his gun, Grace presented her badge.

"CBI, we have a couple of questions regarding your postal address." She said, as she and Rigsby were welcomed into the house.

Lisbon had been waiting outside of Hightower's office for almost ten minutes now. She really didn't know why she went through so much trouble for Jane. Then the cleaner walked out, and Lisbon walked in.

Grace and Rigsby had been asking several questions, but gathered close to no facts. Mill denied any involvement with the crimes and said he'd never found any of the items in his letterbox.

As Grace began to apologise for the inconvenience and hand Gregory Mills their card, Rigsby stopped her mid-sentence.

"Can you hear that?" he said, and silence filled the room.

"Yeah, it's like a ticking… but quicker than seconds…" Grace said, and terror struck all of their faces.

Rigsby grabbed Grace's arm and they burst out the front door.

"And I think that this case will actually help Jane and give him some closure because it is so similar to the Red John one. Please ma'am, let him work on this one." Lisbon pleaded, and Hightower nodded her head.

"All right Agent Lisbon, you win, but if he doesn't improve, I might have to make some permanent changes. You understand?" said Hightower as her office phone began to ring. "Hold on – I'll just be a sec."

Hightower picked up the phone and her expression changed from a smile to terror.

"Are they ok?

are you sure it's Rigsby and Vanpelt?

Ok we'll send their boss to the hospital.

Thank you, Bye."

"What is it? What about Rigsby and Vanpelt? What's happened? Are they okay?" Lisbon asked in shock.

"I'd love to say they are, but they're both in critical condition in the hospital. Big explosion at Gregory Mill's house. He didn't survive. The explosion was in the roof, so they were all crushed, you'd better get to the hospital.

Jane and Lisbon rushed into the hospital. Jane was much less tired looking and seemed his usual self but with a shocked expression after Lisbon told him about Grace and Rigsby.

They first went into Grace's hospital room and Jane stayed at the door and stared as Lisbon ran up to Grace and knelt at her side. Grace had just been taken out of emergency surgery and seemed to be doing all right, although she was still in critical condition and it wasn't hard to see that. Her Arm was in a cast, and she had a deep cut on her forehead held together by what looked like white rectangular stickers. Her shoulder was covered in blood. As Lisbon was examining her friend and colleague, Grace's eye's opened to a slit.

"Hey boss…" she mumbled through a cut lip.

"Grace! First you almost get shot, now you're here? Are you okay?" said an extremely worried looking Lisbon.

"My shoulder hurts a little," she said slowly, "But I'll survive. I broke three ribs apparently, and they kill, but I'll be ok."

"Vanpelt I should have gone with you and Rigsby. I'm so sorry. You'll be okay I promise." Lisbon finished, with watery eyes.

"Thanks boss…" Grace said as she eased back into sleep.

Lisbon stayed by Grace's side, feeling so guilty that she practically sent her youngest agent into battle, and she almost killed her.

"Come on Lisbon. Let's go see how Rigsby's doing." Jane said, hoping he would be in better condition, "Come on."

Slowly Lisbon got up and followed Jane to Rigsby's hospital room. Jane was wrong. Obviously Rigsby was closer to the explosion than Grace. He had a bandage around his head and both his arms were in casts. The doctor walked in and explained to Lisbon and Jane how Rigsby took most of the blast, and was found unconscious in a position that appeared to show that he was protecting Grace. He had covered her from the rubble, and had broken eight ribs in doing so. Lisbon felt even guiltier now. Rigsby's face was covered in blood and his fingers were too.

Jane practically pulled Lisbon away from the hospital ward. He knew she felt guilty, but he had to let her know it was not her fault.

"Jane they could have died! They almost did! Jane I don't know what I would have done if they had! Oh it's my fault…" Lisbon blurted out as soon as they were in the SUV.

"Look Lisbon, don't blame yourself. The important thing is you didn't cause them to die. They are okay. It isn't your fault they're dead. You didn't go on national television and talk and talk like you knew everything there was to now, mocking a serial killer in front of the whole of America. YOU AREN'T THE REASON THEY'RE DEAD!" He yelled, and then he realised where he was again.

"Oh, said Jane, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to yell…"

"No Jane I'm sorry, it's all right."

"No you're right," said Jane, "losing someone close is no reason not to be civil, it's not your fault at all that my family was murdered. I shouldn't yell at you, I shouldn't even bore you with my meaningless rambling about my past. You probably don't even listen." He said, turning back to the road.

"I listen," she said, "I do, I'm really sorry about what happened to you. I understand loss. I understand what it feels like. My parents both died horrible deaths. I know. I do."

**End of Chapter 1. What do you think? There are definitely more chapters coming, so please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Okay Guys, this chapter's a little less exiting. More about the case, although there is a little Jisbon. Pay attention though, it may be boring but the next chapter is going to (hopefully) Blow your mind!

Now that there was only three on the team until Rigsby and Vanpelt recovered, Jane and Lisbon ended up doing most of the fieldwork. This was decided without opinions or arguments seeing as Jane wouldn't answer phones if someone paid him, and Lisbon had served her time with that job when she was junior agent of Bosco's team.

So Cho sat alone at his desk, answering phones and taking numbers and messages while Lisbon and Jane made their way to the sister of one of Tanner's victims' house. The victim's name was Tina Crowde, and she was poisoned a week after poison was delivered to the now deceased Gregory Mill's address. Her sister was Deally Dandroy, and she owned a small cottage out in the country.

When Jane's many questions of and similar to, "Are we there yet?" were finally answered with, "We're here," the two CBI workers made their way up the driveway of Deally Dandroy's property. Jane was obviously already improving, as he was acting slightly cheerier and more annoying. Lisbon had forced Jane to wear a bulletproof vest and she was wearing one too as she knocked on the dark wooden door.

"Hold on! I'll be right with you!" called a voice from inside, followed by bumps and crashes and taps turning on and off.

"CBI let us in now!" yelled Lisbon as she slipped Jane a look of worry and a little fear after what happened to their fellow agents.

To their surprise, about five seconds after Lisbon said they were CBI, the door opened revealing a thin, blonde woman about Lisbon's height, wearing a pink apron.

"Hello… What's this about?" Deally Dandroy asked with a curious expression.

"We have reason to believe that you may be able to help us with a few queries regarding a certain murderer that goes by the name of –" Dandroy cut Lisbon off.

"Frederick Tanner. Who was it this time? Who did he take from that wretched Crowde family now? Rebecka? Jodi?" Dandroy asked, as sadness struck her face.

"It was Stacy Crowde ma'am, she was a cousin of your sister's brother in law. Bullet straight through the heart. We're sorry for your loss ma'am." Lisbon said, lowering her gaze in respect. Deally Dandroy offered them to come in, but Jane quickly replied with,

"Um… we should take you back to headquarters… it's uh… safer there let's just say." He said as he exchanged looks with Lisbon's agreeing eyes.

When Jane, Lisbon and Dandroy arrived at the CBI, Lisbon told Cho to conduct the interviews and got a man from Bosco's team to take their calls while she sat at Grace's desk and watched Jane sit down on his couch.

When Cho was inside the interview room, Lisbon and Jane were alone in the office.

Jane was now laying on the couch with his eyes lightly closed. Lisbon knew he wasn't asleep.

"This case is… Pretty interesting huh?" she small talked, trying to get a conversation going with Jane.

Jane opened his eyes suddenly, but didn't move in any other way.

"I guess. I think it's like any other in my part, can't say the same for Vanpelt and Rigsby, the hospital said they will live. I suppose that's good news."

Lisbon, seeing that Jane was acting quite unsociable, went to her office and began to tidy things up. Maybe Jane would get more sleep if he stayed in her office, he had lay on her couch before, and neither of them seemed to mind. It was a lot quieter in Lisbon's office, and if one were to shut the blinds it would be dimmer too.

Jane could hear Lisbon's heals clicking against the floor of the office long before she actually spoke up.

Lisbon cleared her throat.

"Uh, Jane?" She asked, hoping she wasn't waking him.

"And what could I do for you my dear?" said Jane as he sat up in his couch.

"I was wondering… Perhaps you might be less disturbed, maybe, that is if you wanted to… I don't know…"

"Spit it out woman!" he said mockingly as he noticed her blush slightly.

"Perhaps you might like to try to rest on the couch in my office? It's quieter and dimmer and cooler in there than out here. Maybe it would do you good?" she asked, trying to sound as formal as possible.

"Thank you for the offer Lisbon, I'll keep it in mind, but Cho looks like he's found something important, turn around my dear." Jane said, turning to Cho.

Lisbon turned around to see that Cho was standing directly behind her.

"What have you got?" She asked, hoping Cho hadn't heard her offer Jane a spot in her office.

"Here boss, Dandroy said that Tina Crowde was continually receiving calls from this number," Cho said as he held up a small sheet of paper with a number scribbled down, "It traced to an abandoned building. Here are the coordinates," he said as he handed her another sheet of paper.

"Good job. Me and Jane will go check it out." Have fun with the phones Cho.

**Okay so I admit, nothing really happened in this chapter, not action-wise anyway. But I know you will like the next chapter, I just needed this to happen in order to write the next part… Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Prepare yourselves. I hope you like this chapter. This is building up to a torture scene – WARNING – torture scene NEXT chapter

Jane's blazer ruffled in the wind as he stepped out of the SUV. Lisbon was already out and in front of him, waiting for him to get out so that she could lock the doors with the remote locking system.

After hearing the high-pitched beep that meant the doors were locked, the two CBI members walked towards the abandoned building.

….

Jane had to admit he was a little scared. After what had happened to Grace and Rigsby, he hoped that was just a one off. But, Jane wasn't only scared for himself, he was also very frightened for Lisbon. Sure, she acted tough at times, but he'd seen the real her. He knew she was really quite sensitive and kind at heart. He didn't want her to get hurt.

Lisbon looked around the abandoned Foyer, trying to find a sign of life, signaling to Jane to wait at the door until she was sure no one was present. She wondered around the empty space pointing her gun to the floor for a while, and finally, she placed it back in its holster.

"Jane, let's try the stairs. They look stable," Lisbon said as she turned towards the stairs.

"Wait, maybe we should go, get some professionals to check it out. Lisbon what if there are people up there. We have one agent and one… me," he said with a chuckle, "It would be stupid to go up there alone."

"Right. Let's go back to the CBI then," said Lisbon as she turned away from the stairs and headed towards the door. Lisbon tried the door and failed.

"Crap." She said, turning towards Jane.

Jane walked over to where Lisbon was.

"It's locked." She said, and she turned to Jane with a frightened look on her face, and she looked almost as frightened as him.

"I guess we'll have to take the stairs then. Try to find another way out." Lisbon said, taking her gun out once more, "Follow close behind me."

As Jane followed Lisbon toward the stairs he silently texted Cho to come and save them.

"need ur help. in trouble abondoned building. Cum quik"

Jane and Lisbon walked slowly up the stairs, until they came to a wide-open room with no lights. Luckily, Lisbon had her torch. Unluckily, and to her great frustration, it had flat batteries.

So the two walked blindly through the room, and after what seemed like hours of walking, they spotted the outline of a door. Lisbon's pace increased and Jane's followed.

Just before they reached the door, everything was lost in confusion.

Lisbon lost her gun and her torch after being grabbed and her hand painfully hit. She also lost Jane, but could still hear him breathing and she tried to walk closer to the sound but she was stopped by a blow over the head, which caused her to fall unconscious almost instantly.

Jane heard Lisbon yell and collapse as he was repeatedly punched in the stomach by several fists. He collapsed on his knees, then was hit over the back of the head. He wasn't knocked out by the blast, but pretended to be. He knew there was no point trying to fight. He was too weak for that. He could taste blood in his mouth.

…..

Lisbon woke up to a completely white, square shaped room, tied to a chair with a sore head and ribs. She had the taste of blood in her mouth, and after investigating her lip, found it had been split by the blow to her face. Judging by the pain from her ribs, she guessed that two or three might be broken.

She looked around the room, but it was completely empty, apart from her, with her arms, legs and waist bound to a wooden chair, and a small black dot in the top right corner of where she was facing. She guessed this was a badly hidden camera.

Lisbon tried to force the duct tape holding her to the chair to break, but her ribs hurt too much for that, so she let out a yell of "Help!" Before the door burst open before her and a man with a black mask and glasses burst in and taped over her mouth.

….

Jane was also in a white, square-shaped room. He looked around, and saw a screen directly in front of him, but it was blank. He was not tied to a chair like Lisbon, but he was lying on the ground. His ribs hurt, and his head hurt. He felt the back of his head and sure enough there was a giant lump at the center of the pain. He got up painfully and called out.

"Lisbon!" he yelled, "Can you hear me?"

But no reply came.

Suddenly he heard a voice project from the walls.

"Hello, Mr. Jane." Said the voice, "I'm really sorry but you have information that I can't ignore. I'm afraid you and your team are getting too close to this case. I thought perhaps the extermination of those two agents would slow you down… But you really are heartless people aren't you? You aren't affected by their deaths. You just continue with work like a drone."

"Who are you?" Jane bravely asked, shaking. "Who are you talking about? Vanpelt and Rigsby survived the explosion!" He yelled back at the walls, grasping his ribs as he did so.

"Damn!" said the voice, "I was really hoping that would work! Oh well, how's my good friend Gregory? Did he survive too?"

"No, now who are you and where is Lisbon?"

The voice was now full of laughter. The screen before Jane turned on, revealing a view of Lisbon, sitting strapped to a chair in a horrible state. Then a man with a black mask came into view, and he was holding a knife. Lisbon was now gagged with duct tape, and she looked weak, but was still struggling a little. Light glinted off the tears that were mixed with sweat as they ran down her cheeks.

Ok let me know what you thought of this chapter – Next chapter gets a little scary – there is a torture scene. Not just Lisbon, but Jane is tortured too.

**Please review this chapter! Thanx! xD**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok guys here we go! I love this chapter… Enjoy and PLEASE review!**

**WARNING – TORTURE SCENE! (It's not THAT gruesome…)**

Jane could do nothing but watch as the masked man carefully made a shallow yet obviously painful cut in Lisbon's arm. She screamed behind the duct tape as blood trailed to the floor. The cut was not deep enough to kill, but it was deep enough to cause tears to come gushing from Lisbon's bloodshot eyes. Then the man took out a small bottle of clear liquid.

"Acid." Said the voice to Jane, "Sulfuric Acid. He only drops the tiniest drop, but it's fascinating to see the victim's reaction…" it said before laughing once more.

"No. No! Stop! Please!" Said Jane, but his voice didn't stop the walls laughing in mockery of his helplessness, and his voice didn't stop the masked man from dropping a single drop of the acid into Lisbon's raw wound.

The masked man then put a finger to a small earpiece, and nodded. He tore off the duct tape from Lisbon's mouth, causing her split lip to open once more releasing a miniature river of bright red, dripping down her chin and into her hair.

Jane could not remove his eyes from the screen as Lisbon screamed a blood-curdling scream that echoed through his room. The skin on her arm was burning, but the masked man had only just put enough acid on her arm to cause excruciating pain, yet not enough to melt through to the bone. Bare muscle was visible as Lisbon screamed at the pain throbbing from her arm.

"NO! Please! Stop hurting her! Please!" Called Jane, and he ran full speed at the door of his room, hitting it hard at the same time as hearing his collar bone snap. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain, but he knew that he had to stop the man from hurting Lisbon. He tried again, with no success.

…

Lisbon's head was throbbing with pain, and her ribs were hurting more than ever. Her arm felt like it was on fire with a million knives being repetitively stabbed into her. She was screaming even though with each scream more blood poured from her lip. Then the masked man put his finger to his ear and nodded again. Then he spoke.

"Your friend, Mr. Jane is not being very cooperative," he said as he walked close up to Lisbon's side. "I'm sorry I have to do this. You really have beautiful looking fingers."

Lisbon was confused. She didn't know what to think, the pain and the throbbing through her whole body jumbled her thoughts. The man lifted out more duct tape and secured her elbow to the chair. The elbow of the acid-burned hand. He then ripped off the duct tape at her wrist and picked up her hand.

"Please don't! Help! Jane! Please! Anybody!"

…..

Jane had been throwing himself against the door, hoping, wishing, that it would fall open and let him be able to find Cho and get Lisbon out of the room somehow.

…

Cho had received Jane's text, and took it very seriously. He was in his bulletproof vest and had his gun at the ready as he entered the abandoned building. He stepped into the foyer, and seeing that there was no one there, headed for the stairs. He could hear faint screaming coming from that direction and immediately knew it was Lisbon.  
Cho began to make his way up the stairs, quickly but silently.

….

Jane's collarbone was killing him. It was almost unbearable, but he knew he had to find Cho to save Lisbon and himself. The whole time he was running against the door the voice was mocking him, reminding him of his family and Red John, but he resisted.

Finally he pushed the door down. The voice stopped. Jane forced himself to follow Lisbon's screams. Then he heard an even louder scream than before following a small cracking noise. This happened twice, then Jane found the door to Lisbon's room. He burst in easily as it was unlocked to any entering from the outside, and Lisbon's back was to him. The masked man came over and, seeing how weak Jane was, stabbed the consultant in the shoulder without hesitation. Jane collapsed and yelled, "I'm sorry… Lisbon!" And fell unconscious as the masked man hit him on the head with the butt of the knife.

…

Cho had found the dark room, and hated himself for leaving his flashlight in his desk. He walked until he could see the outline of a door, but then he heard a gunshot and a sudden pain struck his leg. He collapsed, and clutching his leg, managed to stay silent. He heard footsteps, and shot in that direction. He heard a male voice yell out in pain, before the male collapsed with a thump. If his leg wasn't emitting excruciating pain, Cho might have even laughed.

He forced himself up, and limped in great pain to the door. He opened it to find two doors in a hallway. He opened the first door to find an empty room with a small bloodstain on the floor. Seeing no Lisbon, nor Jane, he rushed to the second door and opened it to find Jane unconscious and bleeding on the floor and an only half-conscious Lisbon with a dislocated shoulder and what looked like a half-melted arm, as well as two fingers in awkward positions. Then, looking up, he realised that a man in a mask was staring at him with a knife raised. In a flash, Cho shot the masked man and collapsed to the floor. He managed to call an ambulance before the pain from his leg spead through his whole body and into his mind, causing him to fall unconscious.

…

Grace and Rigsby had been released from hospital and were back in the office. Rigsby wasn't much help though, because his injury to his head caused him to have very small memory loss. He'd forget simple things like, where he put his pen, or if he'd already eaten his lunch or not, but the doctor said he'd fully recover within a few days. Apart from a small Band-Aid covering the stitches on his head, Rigsby had a cast on each arm, but could still type, and broken ribs, but he insisted on coming to work because he didn't want to leave Grace alone after what happened.

Grace had fewer injuries than Rigsby, but she still had a lot. She had stitches on her shoulder, a cast on her left arm, and still had the small rectangular stickers across a healing scar on her forehead as well as three broken ribs. Although her work performance was slightly affected by these injuries, it was more affected by her mental state. At every bang, bump or even tap she'd flinch, her subconscious still dwelling on the explosion.

They both knew of each other's pain, but were too scared of being caught that neither of them expressed how they truly felt. Rigsby was sitting at his desk, watching Vanpelt as she typed with only her right hand, when his phone rang, and made poor Grace almost hit the roof in shock. He picked up the phone at looked apologetically at Grace as she blushed in embarrassment.

"Hello?

…Really? Wow…

We'll be right there…

Goodbye.."

"Who was that?" asked Grace, curiously.

"Who was who?" asked Rigsby.

"The person on the phone just now." She replied.

"Oh um… I can't remember…" he said, ashamed.

"You said, 'we'll be right there'." She said in attempt to jog his memory, and it worked.

"Oh! The hospital!" He said in excitement.

"Why? Who's at the hospital? Rigsby please remember!" Grace pleaded, running over to Rigsby a little too fast, causing her ribs to ache.

"Um… Jane, Lisbon… and Cho! Everyone! Let's go!"

…

When Vanpelt and Rigsby arrived at the hospital and Grace was told which rooms they were in, the pair went to see Cho first, as the doctor said he was the one needing the least rest.

"Hey Cho," said Rigsby, his eyes shifting from Cho's face to Cho's leg, which was not covered by the blanket and was in a cast, "What happened to you man?"

"Basically," said Cho, putting his book down, "Jane and Lisbon were trapped in the abandoned building and were beat up pretty bad. Jane texted me and I went to try and help them, got shot in the leg, and the bullet shattered the bone according to the nurse."

"Wow, are you okay?" asked Grace in a worried tone, "That's very brave of you Cho."

"Thanks Vanpelt but the morphine has stopped all feeling in my leg. It's actually nicer in here than in the office, although I wouldn't mind being able to walk again."

"Hey Cho," said Rigsby, his eyes shifting from Cho's face to Cho's leg, which was not covered by the blanket and was in a cast, "What happened to you man?"

"I just told you." Cho said blankly, a little confused, "What's up with him?" he asked, turning to Grace.

"Slight memory loss Cho, don't worry, he'll be better in a few days. We hope you get better soon too."

"Thanks." Said Cho, turning back to his book as Vanpelt and Rigsby left the hospital room.

Next room was Jane's. The doctor had previously explained to Grace and Rigsby about Jane's injuries. He had minor concussion, three broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a dislocated left shoulder.

They walked in to find Jane lying uncomfortably in his hospital bed watching the small television above the bed. Seeing someone who wasn't a doctor, Jane turned off the TV and smiled at his visitors.

"Hey guys," he said weekly, "How's it hanging?"

"We heard you and boss were tortured, seems like someone's targeting our unit," said Grace, "First Rigsby and I, now you, Cho and boss? I wonder who it is… Do you have any idea Jane?" she asked, hoping he would have an answer.

However, Jane replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes Grace I'm improving. Yes my collarbone hurts, I'll tough it out. No really, don't fuss, I'll be fine."

"Jane," said Rigsby, "we know you're in pain but the sooner this case gets closed the better, "We're sorry man."

"No," said Jane in reply to Grace's question, "I got nothing… although, I was thinking, maybe it was someone who had something against Tanner, not us? A husband of a victim, and a father maybe? Perhaps he felt that in order to make certain that it was he, and only he who was to avenge his family, he decided to damage our unit in order to give him enough time to find and kill Tanner… But that's all I got."

"Not Tanner himself trying to stop us from catching him?" Grace asked.

"What would he lure us to his hideout simply to torture us and spit us back out again? No, I think it's just a victim trying to get revenge."

After sincerely thanking Jane for his help, Grace left Rigsby with Cho to talk and she went into Lisbon's hospital room. Grace already knew the whole story. Lisbon was tortured, in order to torture Jane, and whoever the man was who was torturing them, knew that they would call Cho, and Cho would come, so he would have the whole unit damaged. She knew Lisbon had gone through the worst of it, and she knew Lisbon had fought hard.

Grace walked into Lisbon's room and up to her bed. She observed Lisbon as he slept. Lisbon's arm was dressed in a thick bandage, as well as being strapped up around her neck for the entire arm had been dislocated, and two fingers of her left hand were in tiny casts. She had stitches on her top lip, and stitches on her forehead. She was beaten up pretty badly.

**Ok so I know this chapter was pretty sad and torturey, but PLEASE review! I need to know what people think! The next chapter is slightly better, no more torture, but the entire team is scarred from the experience. Last chapter next guys – hope you liked this one! PLEASE REVIEW?**


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all the reviews! Hope you all are enjoying the story… Ok I lied, this is the second last chapter, not the last one… anyway, you know the drill, please read and review! I need reviews to live! LOL

**Oh, and I just realised I haven't been disclaiming… ok here we are…**

**Disclaimer: Seriously. If I owned anything, would I be presenting my ideas on FANFICTION? xD Also We Love you Bruno Heller for creating the mentalist. xD **

Cho had been released from the hospital one day before Grace and Rigsby managed to catch the torturer, and the torturer was one messed up guy.

The three agents that were only just well enough to come to work stared at the Torturer, who's name, as only recently discovered by Vanpelt, was William Crowde. Jane was right. William was the father of one of Tanner's victims, and the wife of another. As the agents stared through the one way glass at the Short, clean-shaven man, they all unknowingly shared the thought that William Crowde was in almost the exact situation as Jane.

After what seemed like half an hour of sitting and waiting, one of the agents walked into the room. Well, if you could call it walking… He was on crutches.

"Hello William." Cho said as he sat down on the chair opposite.

"Good evening officer!" William mocked, a small but only just noticeable smirk appearing on his face as he amused himself.

"It's afternoon and I'm an agent. Agent Kimball Cho." Said he, as he took out his notebook.

"Look," said William, "I'm going to confess right now, to save you buggars some time. I blew up Mills' house, and I tortured your boss. She is your boss yes?"

"Yes." Said Cho, looking to the one way glass to signal for Grace to come in and arrest the poor soul sitting opposite Cho.

As Grace came in, she felt a sudden anger wash over her. How could one man hurt so many? This man, William Crowde, had attempted to murder Rigsby and herself. But could she just let something like that go? Yes. His family was murdered, and that was even worse than what he'd done to them… or was it? She forced those questions out of her mind.

So Vanpelt, ignoring both the pain in her ribs and the will to strike William hard over the head with her cast, handcuffed him and lead him out of the interview room and to another officer that was to escort him to prison.

…..

Jane had been sitting awake in hospital for several hours, nothing on TV to watch, no Lisbon to annoy… Speaking of Lisbon…

_The masked man came over and, seeing how weak Jane _was,_ stabbed the consultant in the shoulder without hesitation. Jane collapsed and yelled, "I'm sorry… Lisbon!"_

Jane remembered seeing Lisbon's weakened spirit as she sat, slouched in the duct-tape that held her to the chair, and seeing her fade away as he'd lost consciousness. Was she okay?

Jane got up, out of his hospital bed and dragged the fluid tubes along with him as he left his hospital room in search for where Lisbon might be. A nurse, seeing him wondering around in his hospital gown, ran up to him immediately.

"Sir, what are you doing?" asked the nurse, matching Jane's stride as he checked door by door, window by window, for any sign of Lisbon.

"Do you know where Teresa Lisbon is?" He asked the nurse, who seemed to recognise both him and the name of his colleague.

"Look sir, Teresa's fine, you have to get back to bed. You need more rest."

"More rest? _More_ rest? I have been lying in that bed for hours, how could I need _more_ rest?"

…

As Jane took it up with the nurse and ended up being lead back to his bed, Lisbon was being treated for her mental damage as she lay in her hospital bed.

She had a headache, and hated what that man had done to her. Now every time she saw a man her heart-rate and blood pressure increased, and if any man stepped to close to her she lashed out, with her good arm of course. This is how her doctor ended up with a broken nose.

Lisbon was being forced to look at pictures of men in magazines and talk to men through a special phone provided by the hospital. The abuse from the abandoned warehouse had not only hurt her, but brought back memories of her father abusing her as a child. She remembered being thrown against doorways, and hit to the side when she tried to defend her brothers.

Lisbon didn't want to be afraid of men. Lisbon lived her whole life around men, especially since she was in law enforcement. After a few days of the treatment, Lisbon was already able to almost comfortably video-chat with the doctor she'd broken the nose of.

She apologized to him and he accepted smoothly, for he was a caring, understanding doctor with a crooked nose, and Lisbon chuckled at this thought, poor man.

Finally the treatment was up to being in contact with a man, holding his hand or sitting close to him talking. The doctor was called into her room. He approached her slowly, and she forced herself to remain calm. Lisbon was sitting up in her hospital bed and her lip had almost completely ceased it's swelling and was back to regular shape. The doctor came closer, and sat on a chair about a foot from Lisbon's bed. Lisbon, following the nurse's instructions, lifted out her hand, and placed it on the table. The doctor, also following instructions, lifted out his hand and placed it near hers.

Her heart was beating faster and faster. She saw the doctor's hand and remembered a hand flying towards her, hitting her hard on the upper cheek and bruising her painfully. Hearing the speeding beep of the heart-rate monitor as the nurse got the doctor to pull his chair right back, Lisbon realised she was now scrunched up in a little ball in the opposite corner of her hospital bed, clutching the hand his was so close to.

…..

After much negotiation and discussion, it was agreed to let Jane go back to work, but he wasn't allowed to see Lisbon, and he wasn't allowed to know why.

Jane arrived in the office to a pathetic looking team. Cho was in crutches and Rigsby and Vanpelt's arms were both in casts, both of Rigsby's and one of Vanpelt's. Jane looked down at his arm, which was being held up in a sling around his neck to let his collarbone and dislocated shoulder heal.

Grace was the first to notice that he'd walked in.

"Jane! Hi, your back!" she said, excitedly, then, realising the lack of Lisbonness, asked, "Where's boss?"

"What Lisbon? She's still at the hospital. They told me she was awake and well, but was still overcoming a few mental barriers. They wouldn't tell me any details, but even after I told them I could help they seemed pretty certain I couldn't. I managed to bargain myself out of there eventually though. I have a pretty good idea about Lisbon's condition though, it's pretty obvious."

Jane finished his sentence and went over to his couch.

"Well? What's her condition?" asked Grace, knowing Rigsby and Cho wanted to ask the same question.

"Well, she's only allowed female visitors, female nurses, she was tortured by a man and had an abusive father. My guess? The torturer brought back some pretty harsh memories. We'd better catch him soon."

Rigsby, his memory improving, let a smile spread across his face as he said, "We already did, the local police found him trying to leave the abandoned" building when they came in answer to Cho's call. He's in prison now man, and now we just gotta catch Frederick Tanner as a welcome back present for boss."

Jane looked up to Rigsby with a serious expression on his face. Obviously he wanted to have hurt William Crowde too before he was sent to prison.

"Well," said Jane, wincing a little as he lay back on his couch, "Get to work, call 'em in, round 'em up, go get them!" he said as he drifted into a state of almost-sleep.

"Ok then, you just sit and rest and we'll go and find the serial killer then." Grace said sarcastically.

"That's the plan!" Jane said, a faint smile appearing on the consultant's face as he drifted off again into almost-sleep.

Ok guys hope you liked this chapter, next is the last chapter! YAY! Please let me know what you think of this chapter! Review! xD 


	6. Chapter 6

Ok here's the final chapter of: "The CBI's Deadly Red Case"

**Hoped you all liked it and hoped you all like the ending! PLEASE read and review! XD**

Jane got even less sleep when Lisbon was in hospital. Sure, he acted like he was cool with it and on top of it all to the team, but didn't he always? He knew they'd noticed his lack of sleep recently, but he also knew that they had no idea that beneath the smiling, joking, and admittingly irksome Jane, he was dying inside. Red John had made a deep cut in Jane that refused to heal, but Jane knew that there was no reason to go back to his state when he was in the mental hospital. He knew that, and as Lisbon once told him, he knew if he ended his life he would be hurting others.

***Flashback***

"_He was here. He was right here."_ He said, looking through misty eyes up to Lisbon,

"_We saved a girl's life, Jane,"_ she said, _"We saved her life. We have Hardy, okay? He's going to tell us what we need to know."_

Jane was annoyed and hurt and angry. They were so close to catching Red John. _"Oh,"_ he said, _"you think so? You should have waited. We agreed on that."_

Lisbon looked worried and ever so slightly betrayed as she began to speak once more. _"What if Hardy had killed you right here?"_ she asked.

"_And then he would have led you straight to Red John."_ Jane said.

"_You'd be dead."_

"_But you would have Red John."_

" _I don't think you mean what you say,"_ she said, obviously in denial of the fact that Jane barely values his own life at all, _"I think you choose life."_

"_Well you think wrong."_

"_No. No, you think wrong. Can't you see there are people who care about you, who need you? You're being selfish and childish and I want you to stop it."_

"_I wish that I could, but you know some things you just can't fix." _

***End of flashback***

Jane had studied that conversation many times, as well as the one he'd had with Lisbon when they were trapped in a shipping crate.

Both Grace and Jane flinched as Jane's mobile began to ring. Jane took it out and held it to his ear, giving Grace a, 'boy that was embarrassing' look as he said, "This is Jane."

"Hello Mr. Jane," said the voice on the phone, it was a female's voice, and Jane recognised it immediately to be the voice of the nurse he ran into whilst looking for Lisbon.

"Hello nurse of St Teresa, what has brought you to call me?" he asked her confidently waiting for the knowledge of Lisbon's situation.

"Yes um, we would like to ask you to come to the hospital, either you or one of your male colleagues. Whoever spends the most time with Ms. Lisbon."

Beep… beep… beep…

"Sir? Mr. Jane?"

…

Jane was at the hospital before you could say 'horsesassery'.

Hey went swiftly up to the secretary's desk and told her who he was and why he'd come. Suddenly the nurse from the phone rushed in and beckoned the consultant to follow her. They walked down the hall that lead to the elevator.

As they stepped into the elevator, the nurse finally began to explain Lisbon's situation. Jane was right.

'It feels great to be right!' He thought to himself as the nurse explained Lisbon's slowly healing phobia of men due to the torturer bringing back unbearable memories from her childhood.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a hall labeled,

TRAUMA PATIENTS

Jane's mind suddenly flashed back to the horrible time so many years before that he'd rather forget.

***Flashback***

The smiley drawn in his own blood on the wall, the white rooms, the daily headaches and the doctors forcing medication down his throat. The countless times he had attempted to end his life, all the scars, so many scars…

"_Goodbye Patrick, be well,"_

***End of flashback***

"Mr Jane?" asked the nurse as Jane popped back into reality, "You need to be very careful and slow. We don't know how she will react."

Jane opened the door to Lisbon's room slowly and carefully. He knew how serious the situation was.

Lisbon saw a middle-sized man with blonde hair, a waistcoat, and brown leather shoes enter the room, and her heart began to beat faster. Although this time, it wasn't because she was scared.

They went through the same procedure. Lisbon laid her good hand on the table, feeling like an idiot in front of Jane, hoping she wouldn't suddenly lash out at him for simply being there. The nurse instructed Jane to slowly put his hand down next to hers, and to move it gradually closer until they'd just touch. Jane raised his hand. Lisbon looked at the consultant's hand, and saw…

***Flashback***

…a hand patting her head while the other held her in his arms…

…a hand guiding her to the driver's side of the car when rain was pouring down…

…a hand that held doors open for her every day…

…a hand that tapped the couch to offer her a seat…

…a hand that rested on her shoulder when she knew he'd almost died and she had had both a gun and a knife pointed at her…

…a hand that held the gun that shot the man intending to kill her…

…a hand that told her everything was going to be okay, as long as that hand's man lived.

***End of Flashback***

Lisbon's hand was in Jane's, and her heart was racing. The nurse, seeing that her heart was going so fast, told Jane to let go of Lisbon's hand, and that she'd had enough.

"Sir please let go."

Their hands didn't part.

"Mr. Jane, come on, this isn't good for her."

The nurse went to Jane's hand and saw that it was not Jane, but Lisbon that was holding the grasp, holding the connection between agent and consultant.

Lisbon looked up from their hands, to Jane.

***Flashback***

_I want you to know that you can trust me. No matter what happens I will always be there for you._

***End of Flashback***

Lisbon loosened her grip, and took her hand away, still looking at Jane.

A smile spread across both of their faces. She was healed! Well, mentally anyway.

That afternoon, it was quite awkward between Jane and Lisbon as she stepped into his Citroen. He knew she was embarrassed, but they both knew it had to be done to heal her.

…..

Grace had been pacing around the office, watching Rigsby as he sat on the phone. The phone call that was from the team they were using for the field work, as none of them were fit enough to physically catch Tanner.

Rigsby put down the phone, and shook his head. 'Great.' Grace thought to herself, another dead-end lead.

The rookie turned to the list of locations they'd been checking for the serial killer, and crossed of Rancho Rosa Highschool. There was only one place left on the list, and if Tanner wasn't there, he could be anywhere.

Rigsby told the team on the other end of the phone the new location, and hung up. Grace flopped back in her computer seat. So many questions were buzzing around in her head.

'Why wasn't Lisbon out of hospital?'

'Why was Jane asked to visit her? Why not Cho or herself? (Obviously Rigsby's ribs were preventing him from doing much…)'

'Where was-'

The phone rung. Grace didn't even flinch as she picked it up quickly and said her line.

"This is Agent Grace Vanpelt, California Bureau of Investigation can I help you?"

"Hey Grace this is Jane."

"Jane! How's Lisbon?"

Cho and Rigsby looked up from their desks.

"We're almost there," said Jane, "yep, pulling into the car park now."

…..

The elevator doors opened, and Lisbon and Jane walked in. Grace was the only one that got up, as it would cause too much pain for Rigsby or Cho. She ran over to Lisbon and hugged her, careful with Lisbon's healing shoulder.

To everyone's surprise, Lisbon hugged back, with her good arm of course, and a single tear fell from her eye and over her darkly bruised cheek.

What a way to spoil the moment. Rigsby's desk phone rang.

"Sorry Boss," he said, and picked up the phone. His face lit up.

"Really? Frederick Tanner? You sure? Dead? How? …Wow! That's great news! Thanks guys, thanks heaps… bye!"

"Who was that?" Jane asked, knowing that whatever was said on the phone was good news to all of them,"

"Frederick Tanner's Dead. Turns out William Crowde escaped from custody, then found Tanner at the location we'd sent the team to, killed Tanner before the team got there, but then failed to leave before the team arrived. He's now in jail and Tanner's dead!" Rigsby said, looking happy as ever.

"Wow." Said Cho, and he looked at his boss, "Welcome back."

***THE FOLLOWING DAY***

Vanpelt was filing documents on her computer with her good hand on the mouse, sad at the state of the team, but content that they had finally closed the case. Rigsby was looking through his top draw for a packet of chips he swore he put there, even though he'd already eaten it, and winced as he moved too much and caused striking pain to emerge from his ribs. They were healing though. Cho was reading a thick, paperback novel as his crutches rested against his desk. Lisbon was in her office, writing the final sentence of the team's previously closed case file with her left hand, as she couldn't bear to move her right arm due to pain that would emit from it. Besides, she couldn't write with that hand anyway due to the casts on her middle and ring finger. As she finished the last sentence, she looked over to Jane, who was resting on the couch in her office he now called his own, resting, as usual, pretending to be asleep. Lisbon watched the rise and fall of his arm as it rested on his chest and was restricted from falling to his side by the sling holding it around his neck.

They caught the bad guy. Most days, that's enough.

**A/N : Did you like it? That's THE END! PLEASE REVIEW! I MUST know what you thought of this story! Please? LOL xD**


End file.
